Refrigerated trucks and trailers are used all across the country. In fact, about 40,000 reefer trailers were ordered in the U.S. in just January 2018. Unfortunately, without the proper care and maintenance, reefer trailers can have a short life span due to corrosion and other factors.
Regular maintenance is vital to making sure your reefer trailers last as long as possible and that your products get from Point A to Point B safe and sound. To help you extend the life of your trucks and trailers, consider the following maintenance tips.
Clean and wash your trailer regularly
Corrosion and rust over time on any trailer are inevitable, but you can keep rust from creeping in early by regularly cleaning and taking care of it. You also want to wash the refrigerator box after every load.
Why every load? If you’re hauling food, the residue from that load can spread substances across the trailer floor and contaminate your next load. You can use a hose, but be sure to clean carefully be aware of debris.
Shut down your reefer unit during loading
Is your reefer unit running? You better go catch it! Honestly, you don’t want to keep the refrigeration unit running while you’re loading and unloading your trailer.
When you leave the doors open to your trailer, you’re drawing in warm air that can condense and freeze on your reefer unit’s evaporator coil. This can disrupt airflow and make your reefer unit run its defrost mode frequently. When you shut off the reefer unit during loading and unloading, you reduce fuel consumption and keep it from exhausting itself.
Regularly inspect your reefer trailer
You want to inspect your trailer before every delivery to make sure there aren’t any cracks in the insulation. You also want to be sure your temperature gauge is properly set and that your seals and locks are working.
Don’t just rely on self-inspections, either. Regular professional inspections can help you catch small problems before they become major disasters.
Where can I find used reefer trailers with new reefer units?
The global refrigerated market value is expected to increase by $2 billion by 2022, which means it’s important to stay on the ball with your reefer trailer fleet. Renew reefer trailers are a great way to save money because you’re using brand new reefer units in used reefer trailers that are good as new.
Rock Truck and Trailer provides wholesale reefer units and used reefer trailers so you can get the most bang for your buck. To learn more about our used reefer trailers for sale, contact Rock Truck and Trailer today.